Monday, May 11, 2009

From the Mission Field: Dean and Elaine Christensen

Things are going great for the “Senior” missionaries here in Brunswick. We keep pretty busy visiting part-member families, delivering media referrals, teaching the “after baptism” lessons to recent converts, transporting missionaries to zone conferences and transfer meetings, and talking in church now and again.

We are currently delivering packages from the Gladys Knight fireside held recently in Savannah. Several members here took non-members who filled out a referral card to have the missionaries deliver a sampler CD, a Book of Mormon, and a DVD of the Restoration - a very nice package donated by the Church. Several have invited us back to hear more about the gospel so we are pretty excited about that.

We loved the fireside. Beautiful music and great testimonies by Gladys and her husband. When the choir came up the aisle to go on stage we saw our former neighbor, Donnie Petit. We were surprised and excited to learn she is in Gladys Knight’s choir called “Saints Unified Voices.” We went backstage afterwards and talked to her for a few minutes.

We have had one baptism so far and a second one is scheduled for May 23rd. It’s interesting, but people do not see Senior Couples as “teaching” missionaries. They think that’s only for the young elders and sisters, so they are very surprised to find out we actually teach! Couples are definitely stereotyped as office couples, institute teachers, temple workers, humanitarian workers, serve at historical sites or a visitors’ center, or in public relations, but teach???? No, that’s for those young men on bicycles; and I have to admit they do a fabulous job! We surely do love and admire them!

We taught the after baptism lessons to a lady who had joined the Church a year ago. She was anxious to go to the temple so we taught her the temple prep lessons and then took her to the Orlando Temple to receive her endowment. She had done a lot of genealogy so we stayed two days to get it all done. Dean did the work for the men and I helped with the women. She was sealed to her husband, her parents and brothers and sisters. We also sealed her husband’s parents and the children to the parents. She was pretty excited about the whole thing. She is 86 years old.

Well, that’s pretty much our life everyday and we are really quite content with it all. We feel like it’s a wonderful blessing to be here and to have these experiences. Our testimonies of the Church have been strengthened and we realize more everyday just how blessed we are.

We miss you all and thank you for your cards and letters, e-mails, and support. You are the “cream of the crop!"

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